On June 23rd, the Santa Cruz City Council passed a 45-day moratorium on new medical marijuana dispensaries in the city limits. Councilmembers said they needed the moratorium because they claimed there was a flood of daily inquiries to the city's Planning Department about opening medical marijuana centers. The are two pending applications for dispensaries on the Westside of Santa Cruz.

There are two existing dispensaries currently operating in the Harvey West area of Santa Cruz. However, local medical marijuana patient Craig Canada reports that he buys his medication from dispensaries in San Francisco where the prices are more competitive. Proponents of medical marijuana hope that additional dispensaries in Santa Cruz will result in more affordable prices locally.

There were lots of public comments at the June 23rd meeting, but there was not any council discussion after the public input session. The real moratorium on the two pending applications is at least 70 days since the Zoning Commission doesn't meet in August. And then one staff person can unilaterally extend the moratorium for nine months if the staff person finds they didn't "have enough time". Read more